It is known that the sports footwear used in motorcycling activities is generally provided with protection elements suitable for protecting the user's foot from impacts or friction with external objects. These protection elements are usually arranged on the region of the toe end, heel and leg of the footwear.
Moreover, the sports footwear for motorcyclists is generally provided, on the outer side of the toe end, with a protection element suitable for protecting the toe end of the footwear from any abrasion caused by frictional contact of the footwear against the road surface.
Usually these protection elements consist of two separate components which are joined together. The first component, called a “base”, is suitable for being fixed permanently, for example by means of gluing, to the footwear, while the second component, also known as “slider”, is removably fixed to the base by means of suitable fixing screws and/or fastening means. The slider has the function of covering the base and is made of rigid abrasion-resistant material.
The provision of temporary fixing means between slider and base allows the user of the footwear to replace the slider once the latter becomes worn following frictional contact against the road surface.
The fixing screws used to join together the two components of the protection element usually have their associated longitudinal axes arranged along a direction substantially perpendicular to the outer surface of the slider.
Usually the outer surface of the slider is provided with suitable seats for receiving the heads of the fixing screws such that the latter do not project from the outer surface of the slider.
These protection elements, although widely established, are however not without defects.
Following wear of the slider, if the latter is not promptly replaced by the user, it may happen that the heads of the fixing screws are located flush with or even project slightly from the seats in which they are inserted. In such a situation, in the event of a fall or particularly violent impact, the fixing screws, since their longitudinal axis is arranged in a direction substantially perpendicular to the outer surface of the slider, may penetrate into the base of the protection element until, in the most extreme cases, they come into contact with the user's foot, bruising or even injuring the user.
Moreover, in the case where a worn slider is not promptly replaced, it may happen that, following frictional contact along the road surface, the heads of the screws are damaged, making it in fact impossible or difficult to remove them or replace the slider with a new one.
It is also known to fix the slider to the base by means of fastening systems other than screws, for example using press-on engaging means.
These engaging means on the one hand do not pose the problems mentioned above, but on the other hand do not ensure a stable connection between base and slider. It may happen, for example, that the slider, following frictional contact along the road surface or an impact, becomes detached from the base. In the case where the user of the footwear does not notice that the slider has become detached, subsequent frictional contact of the toe end of the footwear along the road surface results in wear of the base, with the risk that the slider may no longer be able to be fitted and the need to replace the entire footwear in order to restore the initial safety conditions.
In any case, the loss of the slider does not ensure any longer adequate protection of the user's foot and will not protect the upper or sole of the footwear from wear.
The object of the present invention is therefore to overcome at least partly the drawbacks mentioned above with reference to the prior art.